SINGAPORE — After surviving blood cancer in 2013 and returning to good health, a Singaporean priest was hit by a van on Monday morning (May 24) during his morning jog.

Roman Catholic priest Luke Fong, 56, an assistant priest at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Kovan, was struck by a van while running — something he usually did before Mass, the daily worship service.

He was taken to Sengkang General Hospital’s high dependency ward, the church said in a statement on its Facebook page on Monday.

On the accident, the police told TODAY that they were alerted to it on Monday at around 5.45am. It happened on a slip road along Upper Paya Lebar Road leading into Lorong Ah Soo.

The van driver, 39, was arrested for dangerous driving causing hurt, they said, and investigations are ongoing. Reverend Father Fong was conscious when taken to the hospital.

The church’s parish priest Paul Ngo said: “The good news is that there isn’t any damage to his spine and vital organs. The doctors’ primary concern is the swelling in the tissue cushioning his brains and the fractures to his skull.” 

Father Fong was not responsive initially, but on Tuesday he was able to open his eyes and acknowledge his family members present.

In an update on Tuesday afternoon, the church said that Father Fong’s vital signs were good: “The doctors say it’s still early days and will continue to scan his head to track the degree of bleeding around his brain.”

The accident follows other misfortunes to befall Father Fong, an avid runner and fitness enthusiast who was diagnosed with a potentially fatal strain of leukaemia in early 2013.

Six months after the diagnosis, the Bone Marrow Donor Programme found a successful match after hundreds from Singapore’s Catholic community voluntarily enrolled into the programme’s international DNA registry in support of Father Fong.

He eventually received the life-saving stem cells through a bone marrow transplant procedure from an anonymous donor, who was later revealed to be a pharmacy manager living in Chicago in the United States.

The donor, Mr Peter Mui, 53, told TODAY that he found out about the accident on Tuesday and he just communicated with Father Fong last week. "My family and I are very worried for him, and praying for his full recovery."

In 2016, Father Fong wrote in his online blog that he had been diagnosed with osteonecrosis in his knees and hips, an irreversible condition also known as bone death caused by a reduction of blood flow to the bones.

This was caused by the intake of high doses of steroids during his battle against leukaemia, Father Fong wrote, adding that he had to walk around with the help of a cane.

In his blog post dated April 11, 2016, he also wrote that he could no longer run and that he “should not be kneeling and putting weight on my knees in any compromised position”.